Die US Open of Surfing lassen sich viele WCT Pros nicht entgehen, denn es geht bei dem ASP Prime Event nicht nur um Punkte, sondern auch um das Spektakel. Bei fast keinem Event sind so viele partywütige Zuschauer am Strand die bei jedem Trick brüllen und tanzen.

Somit wundert es wenig das King Kelly zu den Stammgästen der Veranstatlung gehört und in Runde eins direkt zuschlug.

“This event has a long history, you get the best juniors, best pros and it’s one of the best fields of the year as far as Primes go, it’s a competitive contest. You get guys that you don’t see in lots of contests and they’ll do well, young guys busting big airs and then the crowds can be intimidating, but you get used to it after awhile.” so Slater!

Auch der Titelverteidiger Julian Wilson startete gewohnt souverän und freut sich auf die kommenden Heats. “I felt pretty good, but I didn’t feel in synch with the waves, with 30 minutes, I knew there would be plenty of waves and I knew I’d get my chances. My board feels really good and I knew that if I got two fun rights I could make scores. Kanoa (Igarashi) surfed really well for a young guy and put some pressure on, Wiggolly (Dantas) got a score and Jonathan Gonzalez as well, so it was a tough heat. There was plenty of opportunity out there and it’s good to get that heat out of the way coming back to defend the title.”

Hier schon mal die Ergebnisse:

VANS US OPEN OF SURFING ROUND 1 RESULTS:
Heat 1: Chris Ward (USA) 12.83, Adriano de Souza (BRA) 12.14, Gabriel Medina (BRA), Tom Whitaker
Heat 2: Jadson Andre (BRA) 14.50, Shaun Joubert (ZAF) 12.06, Luke Davis (USA) 8.76, Adam Melling
Heat 3: Kolohe Andino (USA) 11.70, Adrien Toyon (FRA) 11.20, Jay Thompson (AUS) 11.20, Marlon Lipke
Heat 4: Patrick Gudauskas (USA) 13.76, Sebastian Zietz (HAW) 13.30, Dylan Graves (PRI), Jesse Mendes
Heat 5: Julian Wilson (AUS) 14.77, Wiggolly Dantas (BRA) 13.03, Kanoa Igarashi (USA), Jonathan Gonzalez
Heat 6: Alex Ribeiro (BRA) 14.10, Brett Simpson (USA) 13.83, Stu Kennedy (AUS) 11.76, Olamana Eleogram
Heat 7: Miguel Pupo (BRA) 12.60, Willian Cardoso (BRA) 11.64, Torrey Meister (HAW) 11.00, Lincoln Taylor
Heat 8: Michel Bourez (PYF) 16.00, Dane Reynolds (USA) 12.40, Keanu Asing (HAW) 12.07, Joan Duru
Heat 9: Adrian Buchan (AUS) 14.33, Nathaniel Curran (USA) 8.80, Mason Ho (HAW) 8.74, Messias Felix
Heat 10: Bede Durbidge (AUS) 13.50, Vincent Duvignac (FRA) 12.14, Peterson Crisanto, Andrew Doheny
Heat 11: Mitchel Coleborn (AUS) 12.60, Aritz Aranburu (EUK) 10.30, Chris Friend (AUS) 9.33, Cory Arrambide
Heat 12: Kelly Slater (USA) 16.67, Nathan Yeomans (USA) 11.80, Heath Joske (AUS) 8.46, Jean Da Silva
Heat 13: Jordy Smith (ZAF) 13.20, Garrett Parkes (AUS) 11.97, Heitor Alves (BRA) 11.94, Nathan Hedge
Heat 14: Dion Atkinson (AUS) 10.20, Cory Lopez (USA) 9.84, Victor Done (USA) 9.43, Ricardo Dos Santos
Heat 15: Granger Larsen (HAW) 12.67, Hodei Collazo (EUK) 8.57, Conner Coffin (USA) 7.53, Matt Wilkinson
Heat 16: Ramzi Boukhiam (MAR) 13.00, Yadin Nicol (AUS) 12.77, Jack Freestone (AUS) 10.70, Kai Otton
Heat 17: C.J. Hobgood (USA) 12.23, Sunny Garcia (HAW) 11.50, Brian Toth (PRI) 7.50, Ezekiel Lau
Heat 18: Michael Dunphy (USA) 12.56, Charles Martin (GLP) 11.37, Fredrick Patacchia  Tanner Gudauskas